I almost missed this article from ABC News that wonders how the most competitive universities can benefit legacy admits. What amazes me is that they find this so surprising, or think that there’s some big secret. Yes, most of the time the majority of the decision is about academics, but of course colleges advantage students that advantage the university. This includes athletes, artists, debaters, etc. I’m not saying that a school will take unqualified students, but the reality is that families where multiple generations attend tend to donate at a much higher rate, and for a lot more money. That money is used to offer scholarships, and of course the donation rate shows up in the college and university rankings. I’m not saying it’s fair, or right, and no doubt it leads to some schools lacking anything resembling diversity, but the fact that it suprises anyone…well that just surprises me.